I saw this earlier today and just had to pass it along. I had never seen this technique used before to form tubing into nice flowing lines and contours. The guy doing it, Rod Rogers, is actually an upholsterer and he is building a console here...but the technique could be used anywhere, for interiors, coach building, fender construction etc etc. I thought it was pretty ingenious.

He basically cuts the metal tubing into small pieces and then slides a length of hose inside to hold everything in place while he tack welds it up. Here are a few shots of the technique. I believe he slides the hose out of the tube before all the final welding but I've got an email into him to find out that part of the process for certain.

Just heard from Rod and here's a little more follow up on the technique. He does, in fact, leave the hose inside the tubing when he welds it up...and he reports no fires or problems with it.

Also, just for clarification, the tube frame he is building in these pictures will become a buck for shaping an aluminum skin...which will become the actual console. Once formed, the aluminum will be self supporting and the tube form will then be removed and not used as a part of the finished console.

But I can envision so many applications for this method...whether you leave the tubing in as support or remove it later after forming your metal (or fiberglass) around it.

That looks like a pretty good idea! I want to shape the back of my box on my effie to accept a tailgate off of a nomad or stationwagon of some sort. (not sure what will flow the with the rear fenders yet) I will have to try this method and let everyone know how it turns out. Thanks alot for the info.

looks like a good way to do compound bends. When my son was an apprentice electrician he used to complain that a lot of the journeyman who made twice as much as he did always had him do any conduit that had more than one bend.

Register Now

In order to be able to post messages on the Hot Rod Forum : Hotrodders Bulletin Board forums, you must first register.
Please enter your desired user name (usually not your first and last name), your email address and other required details in the form below.

User Name:

Password

Please enter a password for your user account. Note that passwords are case-sensitive.

Password:

Confirm Password:

Email Address

Please enter a valid email address for yourself.

Email Address:

Log-in

User Name

Remember Me?

Password

Human Verification

In order to verify that you are a human and not a spam bot, please enter the answer into the following box below based on the instructions contained in the graphic.